Refuting Shepherd's Chapel's Katabole, Three Earth Ages, and Gap Theory

The Shepherd's Chapel, led by Arnold Murray, promotes a distinctive interpretation of biblical creation, centered on the concepts of the "Katabole," the "Three Earth Ages," and the Gap Theory. These teachings suggest a pre-existent earth age destroyed due to Satan's rebellion, followed by a recreation described in Genesis. This article critically examines these doctrines, arguing that they lack biblical support, misinterpret key scriptures, and conflict with sound theological principles.

The Katabole: A Misinterpretation of Biblical Language

Shepherd's Chapel teaches that the "Katabole" refers to a cataclysmic destruction of a supposed first earth age, caused by Satan's rebellion. They base this on the Greek word katabolē (Strong's #G2602), which they claim means "overthrow" or "destruction." However, this interpretation is flawed and unsupported by biblical usage.

The word katabolē appears in the New Testament 11 times (e.g., Matthew 13:35, Ephesians 1:4, Hebrews 4:3) and consistently means "foundation" or "beginning," referring to the establishment of the world, not its destruction. For example, Ephesians 1:4 states, "He chose us in Him before the foundation [katabolē] of the world." Here, katabolē clearly denotes the world's creation, not a catastrophic event. Similarly, Hebrews 11:11 uses katabolē in reference to Sarah's conception of Isaac, stating she "received strength to conceive [katabolē] seed." The term here refers to the act of founding or initiating life, not destruction. This usage directly undermines Shepherd's Chapel's claim, as it aligns katabolē with creation and generation, not an overthrow. Standard Greek lexicons, such as Thayer’s or BDAG, define katabolē as "a founding" or "beginning," and Shepherd's Chapel's reliance on E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible to redefine it as "overthrow" is a misapplication unsupported by scholarly consensus. This misuse distorts the biblical narrative to fit a preconceived theology.

The Three Earth Ages: Unbiblical Speculation

The Three Earth Ages doctrine posits that human souls existed in a spiritual "first earth age" before the current age, with a third age to follow in the millennium. According to Shepherd's Chapel, during the first earth age, souls chose to side with God or Satan, and those loyal to God became the "elect" in the current age. This view lacks scriptural grounding and contradicts clear biblical teachings.

First, the Bible does not support the pre-existence of human souls. 1 Corinthians 15:46–47 explicitly states, "The spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy." This passage affirms that Adam, the first man, was created from the earth, not pre-existent as a spiritual being. Similarly, Zechariah 12:1 describes God as forming "the spirit of man within him," indicating the spirit is created at the time of physical formation, not before. The idea of a pre-existent soul conflicts with these texts and resembles speculative philosophies like Mormonism's pre-mortal existence, not orthodox Christianity.

Second, the claim that the "elect" were chosen based on actions in a first earth age undermines the biblical doctrine of election. Romans 8:29–30 and Ephesians 1:4–5 teach that election is based on God's sovereign grace, not human actions in a supposed prior age. Shepherd's Chapel's teaching that individuals earned "elect" status by siding with God introduces a works-based salvation, contrary to the New Testament's emphasis on grace (Romans 11:5–6).

The Gap Theory: A Flawed Attempt at Harmonization

The Gap Theory, embraced by Shepherd's Chapel, posits a vast time gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, during which a pre-Adamic world was created, populated, and destroyed, leaving the earth "formless and void" (Genesis 1:2). This theory, popularized by Thomas Chalmers in 1814 A.D. and later by the Scofield Reference Bible (1909 A.D.), attempts to reconcile Genesis with geological ages proposed in the 19th century. However, it faces significant biblical and logical challenges.

Biblical Issues with the Gap Theory

1. Hebrew Grammar and Syntax: Shepherd's Chapel argues that the Hebrew word hayah in Genesis 1:2, translated "was," should be "became," suggesting the earth "became formless and void" after a cataclysm. However, Hebrew scholars note that hayah typically means "was" in this context, and the verse uses a waw-disjunctive construction, indicating a description of the earth's initial state, not a subsequent change. Translating it as "became" is grammatically possible but contextually unlikely, as it imposes an interpretation not supported by the text. The Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation from 250–200 B.C., also supports the traditional reading, showing no evidence of a "ruin-reconstruction" scenario.

2. Theological Inconsistencies: The Gap Theory implies death, disease, and suffering existed before Adam's sin, as fossils are attributed to the pre-Adamic world. Yet, Romans 5:12 states, "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin." This clearly ties death to Adam’s fall, not a prior age. Similarly, Genesis 1:31 declares all creation "very good," which is incompatible with a fossil record of death and violence predating Adam. Exodus 20:11 further confirms that God made "heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" in six days, leaving no room for a prior creation.

3. Lack of Scriptural Support: Proponents cite passages like Jeremiah 4:23 and Isaiah 34:11, which use "formless and void" (tohu wabohu), to suggest a parallel to Genesis 1:2. However, these verses describe God’s judgment on Israel and Edom, respectively, not a pre-Adamic cataclysm. Their context is unrelated to creation, and applying them to Genesis is an eisegesis that reads modern assumptions into ancient texts.

Logical and Scientific Problems

The Gap Theory was developed to accommodate 19th-century geological claims of an ancient earth, but it fails to align with modern uniformitarian geology, which rejects a global "Lucifer’s flood" or any break between a supposed prior and current world. Moreover, a cataclysm rendering the earth "formless and void" would obliterate geological evidence of prior ages, undermining the very fossil record the theory seeks to explain. Young-earth creationists argue that Noah’s flood better accounts for the fossil record, while old-earth creationists reject the need for a gap, favoring alternative interpretations like day-age or framework theories.

Historical Context and Shepherd's Chapel's Errors

The Gap Theory emerged in the early 19th century A.D. as theologians like Chalmers sought to harmonize Genesis with emerging geological theories, influenced by uniformitarianism. Shepherd's Chapel builds on this by incorporating speculative elements like the Three Earth Ages and Katabole, largely drawn from Bullinger’s Companion Bible and other dispensationalist sources. However, prior to the 1700s A.D., biblical scholars consistently interpreted Genesis as describing a young earth (~6,000–10,000 years), with no gap or pre-existent ages. The rise of uniformitarianism, not biblical exegesis, drove the adoption of the Gap Theory.

Shepherd's Chapel exacerbates these errors by adding unorthodox teachings, such as the pre-existence of souls and a modalistic view of the Trinity, which further deviate from historic Christianity. Their claim that dinosaurs existed in a first earth age lacks any biblical or scientific basis, as the fossil record is better explained by post-Fall events like Noah’s flood or old-earth models without requiring speculative pre-Adamic races.

Conclusion

The Shepherd's Chapel’s teachings on the Katabole, Three Earth Ages, and Gap Theory are not supported by sound biblical exegesis or theological reasoning. The misinterpretation of katabolē as "destruction," despite its clear usage as "foundation" or "conception" in texts like Ephesians 1:4 and Hebrews 11:11, distorts its meaning. The Three Earth Ages doctrine introduces unbiblical concepts of soul pre-existence and works-based election, contradicting passages like 1 Corinthians 15:46–47 and Romans 8. The Gap Theory, while historically significant, fails to align with Hebrew grammar, biblical theology, or modern geology, rendering it an inadequate attempt to reconcile Scripture with 19th-century science. Christians are encouraged to approach Genesis with a commitment to its plain meaning, recognizing that God’s creation, whether understood as young or old, does not require speculative gaps or pre-existent ages to affirm its truth.